


Family Walk

by Jessistired



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, Nature Walks, Pretty chill, camping-kinda, feel good fic, tim burns his marshmallows because I said so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jessistired/pseuds/Jessistired
Summary: Due to the boredom of quarantine, the batfam takes a walk.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 48





	Family Walk

**Author's Note:**

> I did not intend for this to get as long as it is. Oh well, I had fun with it and I'm actually semi happy with the way it turned out. Enjoy!

Bruce was reading in his study. He rarely used the room. After all, any work he had to do could be done in the cave, where he was closer to a coffee machine. The study was nice, though. Full of afternoon sunlight. Quite and slightly secluded from the rest of the house where his children were doing god knows what to relieve their boredom. The room was also dust-free, thanks to Alfred, which gave it the impression of a regularly used room. 

Overall, it was much more pleasant than Bruce expected. Maybe he would find time after the quarantine was over to sit in here again. Doubtful, though. He couldn’t remember the last time he was able to sit and read a book for fun. He was currently reading an Agatha Christie novel. While he had already figured out the killer, he was going to see the novel through to the end. 

When Alfred opened the door Bruce had expected an offering of tea. Instead, Alfred said, “I believe the children are bored, sir.” 

“That’s a surprise.”

Alfred didn’t let the sarcasm in Bruce’s voice deter him. “I believe they would benefit from some time outside.” Bruce looked up from his book, “Perhaps a walk in the forest?” Alfred raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Alfred simply tilted his head in response. Bruce set his book down. “Fine.” 

“I would join you all, of course, but I have some chores that I need to get done.”

“Is this just a plan to get us all out of the house?”

“At least I can’t lock you out.”

The idea of a family walk wasn’t the most popular thing. But it was hard for them to argue when they had resorted to stacking empty boxes on one another to see who could support the highest stack. (Jason was currently winning. At least, he had the tallest stack. Bruce wasn’t entirely sure he would call that winning.)

Dick was the first to be on board, naturally. Damian followed soon after with some encouragement from his older brother. While Cassandra was not nearly as enthusiastic as her older brother, she seemed happy nonetheless. The only two that held out were Jason and Tim.

“We can’t let Timmy outside, he’ll spontaneously combust.”

Bruce rubbed his temples while Tim threw an empty box at Jason.

“You are ridiculously pale,” Damian commented.

“All the more reason for us to go outside,” Dick got in between Damian and Tim to avoid any more boxes getting thrown or any ensuing fights.

Tim shrugged, “Fine, my switch is charging anyways.”

Everyone now turned to Jason, the last holdout. Jason sighed, “There’s no use in fighting, is there?”

“Well, you are outnumbered,” Tim said.

Dick moved to get his jacket. “You two act like family time is the worst thing in the world.”

“I’m locked in this house with you people,” Jason replied. “I know family time is torture.”

Despite his complaining, Jason was as contentedly quiet as the rest when they walked outside. Bruce took the lead, although he wasn’t sure where they were going. They hadn’t really done this before, although he did remember chasing Dick and Jason around the mansion grounds when they were young. Remembering Alfred’s earlier suggestion, he took them out of the garden and into the forest. When Alfred had first suggested this walk, Bruce thought it was to get himself some well-deserved peace and quiet. Now, a few feet into the endeavor, he knew that that wasn’t the truth. At least not the whole truth. 

In front of the group were a few dogwood trees that his parents had planted. Their white blooms were at a peak, gently swaying in the breeze. It had been years since Bruce had taken the time during spring to look at them. He wondered if Damian had ever seen them. From the look on his youngest face, he guessed not.

Damian had a look of confusion on his face like he couldn’t place the flowering trees. That made sense. They were unimportant and nondeadly, which meant they were unnecessary for his education. Bruce only knew the trees because of his mother's fondness for them.

“Dogwood,” Dick said appreciatively. He must have been able to sense his brother’s confusion. He also knew better than to point it out. “I forgot how beautiful they are.”

Damian silently nodded in agreement, then he walked closer to one of the trees to examine its blossoms.

“I wanna get some pictures if that's alright,” Tim took his camera from around his neck. Bruce smiled and nodded.

“Jason I’m gonna make you a flower crown.” Unlike Damian, Dick ran towards the nearest tree with child-like glee. 

Jason picked up a branch and ran after his brother, “Not before I stick this up your ass!”

“Language!” But Bruce couldn’t deny the smile that was slowly growing on his face. 

After a few minutes, Tim was done taking pictures. Dick and Jason had dirtied their pants roughhousing. Cassandra had carefully picked a flower from the tree and placed it behind her ear. With all of his kids done reveling in the beauty of the dogwoods, Bruce led the group deeper into the woods.

Here the bursting green of spring was virtually uninterrupted. The group walked at a slow pace. Tim would randomly stop and take pictures. The others would see if they could find creatures to look at. 

Usually earthworms, but Cass had a sizable snail on a leaf that she carried around. At first, it stayed in its shell, but it quickly came out and crawled around on the leaf, which caused Cass to occasionally turn the leaf. Jason was playing a similar game with a fire ant. The only difference being that if he failed to turn the leaf his ant would bite him. 

“Look,” Damian pointed to a log, “A lizard.”

“Cool,” Jason tossed his leaf, “I bet I can catch it.”

Damian, who had been watching the lizard from a respectable distance, was now indnant. “Leave it alone, Todd.”

Jason didn’t listen and made a jump for the lizard. To Bruce’s surprise, it managed to scurry away and escape Jason’s grasp.

“Aw man.” All Jason had to show for the endeavor was more mud on his knees.

“Tt. That’s what you get for trying to disturb it.”

“I threw Archie away for that.” 

“You named your ant?” Tim voiced the question that Bruce had in his head.

“Someone named you.

Before Tim could reply to that Dick cut in with, “Did you name your snail, Cass?”

Cass nodded, “Claire.”

“I would have named the lizard Rusty.”

“It’s probably for the best,” Tim put his hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Damian agreed, “Rusty is a stupid name.”

After throwing a stick at Damian, Jason felt better about his loss and the walk was able to resume at its old peaceful pace. That was until Dick took off running.

“What is he doing?” Bruce asked. Tim shrugged.

“I’m going to find out.” Jason took off after him. For some reason, that was a signal to the rest of the group to run after Dick as well. Dick was standing in front of a tall tree that had lots of limbs.

“This one is perfect,” He said to no one in particular. Before anyone could question him, he started scrambling up the branches. “Bet I could beat you guys to the top!”

“You’re on!” Jason gave Tim the slightest push backwards as he ran towards the tree.

“Hey!” Tim slightly stumbled, but he didn’t let that deter him from joining his brothers.

Damian didn’t feel the need to push his siblings. “Tt. As if any of you could beat me.” 

“I can’t believe your brothers.” Bruce turned to face Cassandra, but she was no longer there. 

Instead, she was one tree over from the boys, trying to climb it without competition. Clearly, she meant to jump from one tree to another. She held the leaf with the snail in her mouth so she could use both of her hands. 

“You’ll lose your snail,” Bruce warned in hope of getting her down from the tree. She just waved her hand dismissively. Bruce then walked over to Tim, who didn’t seem to be taking the competition as seriously as his siblings. He was just sitting on a branch, enjoying the view. “You could drop your camera.”

Tim considered this for a second, then he took the camera from around his neck. “Catch.”

Bruce caught the camera Tim had unceremoniously dropped. He considered trying another tactic to talk Tim into coming down, but the fact that Tim was already climbing higher in defiance dissuaded him. 

Bruce also knew better than to try with Damian. If his older siblings were doing something, Damian was going to do it. That left Jason and Dick.

“You’re going to fall and break something.” He said to his two eldest children. It was a fair warning; the branches weren’t like the rooftops and ledges that they usually climbed on. There was a serious risk of one of the breaking underneath the weight. A risk that was higher for his older and heavier children. 

“Don’t worry, B.” Dick cheerfully replied. For a second Bruce was taken back to when Dick first came to the manor. All of the dangerous things he would do that would give Bruce a heart attack. And every time Bruce complained he would just reply with the same simple phrase.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed, “We’ll use you to break our fall.”

“You better not break my camera,” Tim warned. Bruce looked at the camera. Then, curiously he scrolled through some of the pictures Tim took. There were very beautiful pictures of the things that they had passed, such as the dogwood and other trees. There were also pictures of the group themselves. Cassandra when she first put the flowers in her hair. Dick excitedly talking about something. Jason attacking Dick with a branch. Damian and Dick rooting out an earthworm. Cassandra watching her snail on the leaf with a caring eye. Jason watching his ant with a mischievous glint. Damian looking at the lizard with concentration. 

A million little moments of their walk captured. Bruce thought it was a good idea. He took some as well. While he didn’t have Tim’s skill with the camera, he wasn’t too worried. He got the idea from several of Tim’s pictures that the idea wasn’t to take the most flattering pictures.

In the end, Cass won and no one fell. Well, Jason did technically push Dick off, but he was only five feet off the ground, so Bruce didn’t count that. Cass was also able to keep her snail. As Bruce led the group back towards the house, he watched Tim out of the corner of his eye. He looked through the pictures Bruce took with a small smile on his face. 

“What are you looking at?” Jason peered his neck in an attempt to get a look.

“Nothing.” Tim quickly clicked off the camera. Jason rolled his eyes, but seemingly let it go. Or, more likely, decided to find out later, when there were fewer witnesses.

“Man,” Dick said, “This makes me want to go camping again.”

“I’ve never been camping,” Tim commented. 

Dick stopped and looked at him incredulously, “Never been camping?”

“Yeah,” Tim replied.

“I haven’t either,” Jason said. 

“I can’t believe this, my two baby brothers have never been camping.”

“We grew up in Gotham.” Jason said, “What did you expect?”

“When did you have the time to camp?” Tim asked.

“During college, and when I was little.” Dick was strangely quiet for the rest of the walk. That made Bruce uneasy; he was clearly planning something. When they got back to the house Dick took off towards the garage. 

“Don’t track dirt into the house,” Bruce called after him. Then he turned to Jason, “That goes for you too.”

“Wait, how am I supposed to not track dirt in?”

“We can help.” Damian was pointing a water hose at Jason. In a rare moment of solidarity, Tim turned on the hose, soaking Jason.

“I’m going to kill you two!” All three took off. 

Bruce turned the hose off, then turned to Cassandra, who was holding Tim’s camera. “Will you get some clothes for them?”

She nodded and placed her leaf on some bushes before walking inside. Bruce took the camera and found Alfred sitting at the breakfast table in the kitchen. He was reading the same novel that Bruce had been earlier.

“Enjoy your break?”

“Very much so. Where’s the rest of the family? I’ve only seen Dick zooming about,”

“Tim, Damian, and Jason are making a mess in the garden.” Bruce sighed, “Would you like some tea?” 

“Please,”

“It was a good idea,” Bruce admitted, “I haven’t seen the dogwood in years.”

“I thought not.”

“They decided to have a tree climbing competition. Despite the obvious dangers.”

“Now that sounds familiar.”

“Tim took some pictures.” They drank tea while Bruce explained what happened on the walk using the pictures. After a few minutes, Jason came into the kitchen. His hair was still wet, but he had dry and clean clothes.

“Dick wants everyone in the living room. Says he has an announcement to make.”

Bruce sighed. He had forgotten the scheming look Dick had been sporting earlier. “This ought to be good.”

Once everyone was in the living room Dick said, “I’ve decided we’re going camping tonight.”

“So you just want us to go out into the woods and eat leaves?” Jason asked.

“Yeah,” Tim said. “I’m no expert on camping, but I think you're supposed to prepare or something.”

“I figured there might be some reservations, but rest assured I have everything in place already.”

“That is in no way assuring,” Jason said. 

“Look, I can’t have my siblings missing out on an important life event like camping.”

“I don’t think camping qualifies as an important life event,” Tim said

“I’ve already been camping.” Damian protested.

“Training doesn’t count,” Dick replied. “Now everyone out to the dogwood trees, I will be there momentarily.”

Despite their protests, everyone walked to the dogwood trees, where the makeshift campsite was. It was impressive, considering how quickly Dick had set it up. Several tents of varying sizes had been set out, waiting to be put up. Several stones surrounded a pile of firewood. There was a pile of blankets. 

“Where did he even find all this stuff?” Jason asked.

Bruce shrugged and went to work setting up a tent. The others followed suit. They were almost done when Dick and Alfred arrived. Alfred was carrying uncooked hotdogs, buns, and the ingredients for s'mores. Dick held various condiments along with his old guitar. 

He held the guitar up, “Look at what Alfred found.”

“That better not mean what I think it means,” Jason said.

“Campfire songs!”

“Kill me now,” Damian said.

Tim patted his back, “Maybe after s’ mores.”

A few minutes later, when they were teaching Cassandra and Damian how to make s’mores Tim horrified everyone.

“It’s not that bad,” He insisted.

“Tim you’re literally burning your marshmallow alive,” Jason replied.

“It’s a disgrace to all that is holy,” Dick said.

“My marshmallow is ready quicker and it tastes better.”

“There is a cancer-causing chemical covering your marshmallow,” Bruce said matter of factly. 

“If I’m getting cancer, I want to get it from a marshmallow.”

Jason pulled Cass’s marshmallow stick away from the fire, “Don’t follow his example.”

Bruce looked at Damian, who seemed confused. He smiled. “Hold your marshmallow a little farther from the flame. You’ll know it’s done when it turns golden brown.” 

“How come I get made fun of, but Jason gets a pass?” Tim pointed to Jason, who had two marshmallows on his stick. He would heat them up, then slightly push them together. 

“I’m trying to make a jumbo marshmallow since we only have the regular sized ones.” He explained.

“Okay, I’m doing that too.” Dick placed another marshmallow onto his stick.

“I don’t think jumbo-sized marshmallows are meant for s’ mores,” Tim said.

“People who set their marshmallow on fire don’t get to talk,” Jason replied. A couple minutes later one of Jason’s hands got stuck to his face. Dick wasn’t in much better shape, his hand was glued together with not an only marshmallow, but also the napkin he used to try to clean it off.

Jason laughed at his brother, “At least I can lick mine off.”

“How are you supposed to reach it?” Dick said, “Besides, I don’t think napkins are poisonous or something, I could still lick it off.”

“He’s technically right,” Tim said. 

Bruce sighed, “Both of you go to the water hose and wash yourselves off.”

“Notice how this is the second time you’ve needed the hose, Todd,” Damian said.

“Yeah, trust me, I haven’t forgotten about your little stunt earlier.” Damian’s only reply was unusually childlike, he stuck his tongue out at Jason. It made Bruce smile.

When Dick and Jason got back, Dick played his guitar. While no one really knew any songs to sing along, everyone enjoyed listening to Dick. Except for the time Tim requested the campfire song from Spongebob, Bruce found the experience enjoyable. Cass even found a tambourine from god knows where and joined in. She actually had a little skill for the instrument or a least a gift for keeping beat. Something that was made abundantly clear when she passed it off to Jason, who just wildly beat the thing to his content.

“Okay,” Jason said at what looked like the end of the songs, “I admit it, camping was fun.”

“But can it really be considered camping if we still use indoor plumbing?” Tim asked. 

“Why would you go all the way inside if the woods are right there?” Jason said.

“Because we’re not animals,” Damian said.

“Unlike you, I’m actually committed to the idea of camping.”

“Even sharing a tent?” Tim asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m taking that tent.” Jason pointed to a small frog-themed tent, clearly meant for a single child. 

“That one is obviously meant for me,” Damian protested.

“Good luck getting me out of it.” Jason won the tent. Damian ended up sharing with Dick. Tim and Cassandra also shared a tent. Bruce got his own, and Alfred was given permission to sleep inside. Although, when he was sure all of his kids were asleep, Bruce snuck back inside. Unlike them, he was old and his back would not be happy with him if he slept on the ground all night. 

He wasn’t tired, though. Instead of going to his bed, he went back to the study he was reading earlier. It wasn’t likely that Alfred returned the book there, but Bruce still wanted to go there. He was correct in assuming that Alfred hadn’t returned the book. In its place was an older copy. It was well worn, and when Bruce opened it he noticed writing. He recognized the neat print penciled in as his father’s writing. He had written little notes all throughout the book, trying to figure out the ending. It was like reading his father’s thoughts. 

“I found it today while you were on your walk.” 

“Thank you, Alfred.”

“It only seemed proper to replace the copy I borrowed from you. Will you be up all night reading it?”

“Probably,” Bruce admitted.

Alfred sighed, “I guess that is preferable to your usual nightly activities.”

“Good night Alfred,”

“Good night, Bruce.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a kudos or comment.


End file.
